Five months of work is set to begin on a major South Tyneside highways project
Roadworks for a major highways project in South Tyneside are about to get underway.
South Tyneside Council has announced that work will start on Monday, September 8, to improve the junction of Sunderland Road and Grosvenor Road, in South Shields.
The scheme aims to cut congestion and journey times by creating a bypass for northbound buses on Sunderland Road - meaning they will now only have to stop when pedestrians are waiting to cross.
The works will also see the right turn lane for vehicles entering Grosvenor Road being extended, reducing the chance of ahead traffic being blocked and improving the efficiency of the junction.
South Tyneside Council has stated that its in-house construction team will be delivering the project, which is expected to take around five months to complete.
Councillor Margaret Meling, Lead Member for Economic Growth and Transport, has reassured residents that the local authority will do all they can to keep disruption to a minimum for the works period.
She said: “Public transport is hugely important to the traveling public and it’s crucial that we have robust and reliable infrastructure in place to support that.
“The work we are doing in this particular area will help to improve bus journey times for passengers along the key Sunderland to South Shields corridor, providing better connections as part of a wider transformation of bus services across the region.
“The scheme also aims to improve traffic flows and lower congestion, in turn improving air quality, as we work with our partners to build a more modern, reliable and affordable bus network that will also make bus travel more attractive as a sustainable form of transport.
“We will be doing all we can to keep disruption to a minimum when work starts and have written to local residents to make them aware.”
South Tyneside Council has confirmed that the scheme will require some lane closures to enable the work to be carried out safely.
It has been funded by the North East’s ‘Bus Service Improvement Plan’ (BSIP), of which £163.5m has been made available to the region to help increase bus usage.